It’s Easy Being Green--Just Root for Their Causes

Ralph Nader, in his effort to turn the White House over to the Greens, attacks corporate handouts, free trade, the military budget and nonenforcement of laws aimed at cleaning up the environment and making air, drinking water and communities safer for all Americans.

His populist message is in sync with the political movement he represents. With grass roots in Europe as a pro-peace, anti-nuclear effort, the American Greens are loosely affiliated with more than 80 Green Parties around the world. Their motto is “Think globally, act locally.”

The party platform, endorsed by the Greens, strikes an activist, but also sentimental, tone: “Greens are advocates for the Earth. All the rivers, lakes, landscapes, forests and wildlife. This is our birthright and our home--the green Earth. When we see the first picture ever taken of our green oasis from space, photographed from the window of the Apollo flight, we marvel at the preciousness of life.”

The U.S. Greens got their start in the mid-1980s and first gained ballot access in Alaska in 1990 and then in California in 1992. In 1996, Nader gave the burgeoning party a shot in the arm when he ran in the California presidential primary as a Green, as well as in several other states. But he ran what some dubbed an “un-campaign,” making few political appearances and ending up with only 685,128 votes--less than 1% of all votes cast.

While known mainly as a consumer crusader, Nader’s political views are closely aligned with the Greens’. The party platform calls for decentralization of wealth and power, ecological wisdom, gender equity and nonviolence.

The party’s platform on key issues:

Abortion rights: “We believe the right of a woman to control her own body is inalienable,” the platform states. “It is essential that the option of a safe, legal abortion remains available.”

Campaign finance reform: Calls for a cap on spending and contributions, as well as a ban or strict limitations on political action committees and all “soft money” contributions.

Defense: Greens say the defense budget, currently about $300 billion a year, must be cut in half over the next decade. They also call for a worldwide treaty to abolish all nuclear weapons to be signed by 2002 and an end to the embargo against Cuba. In addition, Nader has also called for an end to the Iraqi embargo, charging it has cruelly cost the lives of tens of thousands of Iraqi children.

Education: Greens support tuition-free college and vocational education and state funding of day care. They promote educational diversity, saying, “We hold no dogma absolute, continually striving for truth in the realm of ideas.” They endorse dramatically expanding art education in schools.

Environment: The Greens’ environmental agenda is lengthy and detailed, with a strong emphasis on renewable energy and “sustainable” agriculture. “If we do not alter our energy use soon--and drastically--the ecological crisis may be exacerbated past a point where it can be resolved,” the platform says. Among other things, they call for a gradual phaseout of gasoline and other fossil fuels.

Health care: Greens consider “health care a human right” and mandate a single-payer national insurance program, with an emphasis on “wellness” preventive care.

Marijuana: The Greens “oppose the arrest, harassment or prosecution” of anyone producing or using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

Social Security: Greens oppose privatization of Social Security, saying the system is not in danger of “going broke” and “does not need to be fixed by Wall Street.”

Taxes: Greens want “system-wide tax reform,” although they don’t specify what form it would take. However, they do say they oppose a flat tax and would mandate higher corporate taxes and seriously consider the imposition of “environmental taxes” on corporate polluters.

Trade: The party rejects the North American Free Trade Agreement as well as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the World Trade Organization, saying they were “negotiated in secret and unduly influenced by corporate attorneys and representatives.”

Transportation: Greens say public transportation must be greatly expanded along with alternative transportation, such as bicycles, natural gas vehicles and electric vehicles. They also advocate national fuel efficiency standards of 45 miles per gallon by 2005. A federal study found the average fuel efficiency of 1999 model cars was 23.8 mpg.

Welfare: The Greens say a “radical” shift is needed in how the country responds to families, children, the poor and the disabled. They call for restoration of federally funded entitlement programs with no time limit on benefits. And they say “aggressive steps” need to be taken to restore what the platform, employing the uppercase, calls a “FAIR DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME.”